A D.C. hashish firm has sued town for damages and to demand the return of roughly $70,000 seized as proof in police raids final yr that yielded prison costs, however no convictions.
Washington, D.C
Mr. Nice Guys, a D.C. cannabis store, sues city over money police seized
“Our objective is to have them produce the knowledge related to the chain of custody of that cash, and to simply return it. That’s actually it,” mentioned Charles Walton, an lawyer representing Mr. Good Guys, which first opened in 2014.
The corporate’s web site, marked by its signature pleased face emblem, lists an array of hashish merchandise like THC lollipops, gummies and chips. Every merchandise features a description reminding the consumer that the “greenback quantity goes towards buy of artwork print” and the pictured merchandise “is your present.” Mr. Good Guys has been raided at the least three different instances on the firm’s a number of places across the metropolis, Walton mentioned.
The system is part of the complicated and legally ambiguous market that emerged in D.C. after voters in 2014 handed Initiative 71, legalizing possession of small quantities of marijuana. Congress, which has regulatory oversight over D.C., blocked metropolis officers from establishing a authorized leisure market.
As a substitute of authorized leisure dispensaries, a community of retailers rapidly emerged beneath a provision of Initiative 71 that enables adults to switch as much as one ounce of marijuana to a different grownup so long as “no cash, items, or providers are exchanged.” The shops as an alternative promote different merchandise like attire, artwork or motivational speeches — for seemingly excessive costs — and provides clients a “present” of marijuana with their buy.
The retailers stay largely unregulated, and police nonetheless sometimes raid shops and arrest staff on the dozens of gifting retailers throughout the district. The searches might be pushed by complaints in regards to the retailers or different crime or violence related with a store, police mentioned.
Over the previous yr, the Metropolis Council has initiated efforts to crack down on enforcement of the retailers, which some council members have mentioned are taking enterprise from town’s seven licensed medical dispensaries.
In April, the council narrowly struck down a invoice that may have allowed D.C. to impose harsh civil fines on gifting retailers, then in early August, the D.C. Alcoholic Beverage Regulation Administration (ABRA) introduced that it could be conducting inspections of the gifting retailers for well being code, tax and licensing violations, however an ABRA spokesperson mentioned in an e mail that the beginning of inspections has been paused.
The lawsuit filed final week focuses on two raids that occurred on the identical day in August 2021, when police with warrants searched two Mr. Good Guys places at 409 Eighth Avenue SE and 1922 Ninth Avenue NW.
Based on the lawsuit, police seized greater than $67,000 and destroyed two ATMs on the store whereas looking the Ninth Avenue location. An MPD spokesperson mentioned three folks have been arrested on the retailer and charged with possession with intent to distribute marijuana and possession with intent to distribute a managed substance. The U.S. lawyer’s workplace for the District of Columbia selected to not prosecute those that have been arrested, in keeping with the lawsuit.
Three folks have been additionally arrested after the search of the Eighth Avenue store, in keeping with courtroom data. Two have been charged with possession with intent to distribute marijuana, and one, who was dressed as a safety guard, was charged with possession with intent to distribute whereas armed, together with different costs for possessing an unregistered firearm with no license.
Police seized about 15 kilos of marijuana from the store and about $6,200 of store cash from Damani Batchler, an worker who was named as a plaintiff within the lawsuit, in keeping with courtroom data and the criticism. Batchler entered a deferred prosecution settlement, and as soon as he accomplished neighborhood service hours the fees have been dismissed.
Attorneys for Mr. Good Guys argue in courtroom filings that as a result of all the fees have been both dismissed or not prosecuted, the cash seized from the store ought to not be required as proof and returned.
“Defendant District of Columbia’s D.C. police (‘MPD’) routinely and unlawfully holds money seized from people who’ve been arrested — a lot of whom are by no means charged with against the law — for months and even years previous the purpose the place the federal government might need any persevering with reliable curiosity in retaining mentioned money whereas offering no course of to problem that retention,” the lawsuit reads.
MPD directed questions relating to the case to the D.C. Workplace of the Legal professional Common, which declined to remark citing the continuing litigation. A spokesperson for Mayor Muriel E. Bowser (D), who can be named within the lawsuit, didn’t reply to a request for remark.